* Rodney Corsiglia is Charged with Murder After a Seizure that Caused Him to Crash and Kill His Two Cousins in San Mateo County

A 49-year-old San Bruno man who suffered a seizure that caused him to crash and kill two cousins in a car last month appeared briefly in San Mateo County Superior Court today. Rodney Corsiglia, who has been charged with two counts of murder, did not enter a plea today. His attorney, Robert Canny, said he could no longer represent Corsiglia because of a conflict.

Corsiglia stood during the proceedings and shifted nervously, wearing handcuffs and an orange jail jumpsuit. He is scheduled to return to court to enter a plea with a new attorney on Sept. 7. According to prosecutors, Corsiglia suffers from seizures that have caused him on numerous occasions to crash while driving. More than half a dozen seizure-induced crashes occurred between 2007 and 2011, according to the district attorney’s office.

Corsiglia’s driving license was permanently revoked in June 2011. The suspension did not prevent Corsiglia from getting behind the wheel. On July 28 at about 12:15 p.m., he was driving east on Sneath Lane when he apparently suffered a seizure and crashed into several other eastbound cars that were stopped at a stoplight at El Camino Real, according to the district attorney’s office.

The crash killed two cousins in one vehicle — Arnulfo Picazo, 39, of San Bruno, and Usbaldo Picazo Gomez, 37, of South San Francisco. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Two other people were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. Corsiglia was arrested and charged with murder, because he knew he had a seizure disorder but decided to drive anyway, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

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